The Looting of The Caves and Official Concealment of The Role of Foreigners in The Discovery of The
The true history of the cave's modern discovery, the role of foreigners in the discovery, and the looting of the caves has been concealed by Honduran officials. A wealth of information can be found at the well developed visitors center and museum near the entrance to the Talgua Cave. Visitors will note when visiting the cave that only a politically correct selective history is given on what has taken place at the cave, and while Desiderio Reyes and Jorge Yánez are prominently mentioned, there is no mention of the fact that foreigners - Timothy Berg and Greg Cabe - were among the four principle discoverers of the ossuary. Another fact that is not revealed is that the two native discoverers of the ossuary destructively removed, and attempted to sell, a large number of artifacts from the cave, including many of the skulls that eventually made if famous. Jorge and Desiderio are now employed by the Honduran government protecting the very treasures that they brutally destroyed by hacking hundreds of 3,000 year old skulls, bones, and ceramics out of their lime-stone tombs, plundering and destroying the amazing evidence of the history of natives in Honduras. It was only through the efforts of foreigners, such as Timothy Berg, and Greg Cabe (U. S. Peace Corps volunteers), that the ossuary was brought to the attention of the Honduran Anthropological Institute, and foreign archaeologists (USA), which eventually stopped the plundering of the caves by their other discoverors. Timothy Berg, and Greg Cabe, along with the assistance of those they contacted, are the true saviors of what remains in the Talgua ossuary. A fuller account of the discovery and the anthropological significance written by JAMES E. BRADY, a professor of anthropology at George Washington University, and codirector of the Talgua Cave Project can be found at http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/anthro/harvest.htm None of the facts about the foreigner's part in the discovery of the ossuary, nor the later destructive looting of the ossuary by the two Honduran's credited with its discovery were known by any of the 4 cave guides interviewed in April 2008, or the 6 interviewed in October 2010, nor were there any mention of these facts in the museum or visitor's center near the cave entrance. Verifiability: The fact that no mention of foreigners were among the cave discovery party is to be found in any form at the Talgua Cave site visitor center or museum. No mention of any looting or artifacts except for the bones exists in the visitor center or museum. Verbal confirmation from the American cave discoverers and their dramatic efforts to protect the caves from looting. The fact is that Desiderio Reyes and Jorge Yánez personally contacted many foreigners, and locals with dozens of skulls, boxes of bones, and ceramics requesting assistance in selling and exporting these artifacts. Photographs of these artifacts in the hands of Desiderio Reyes, Jorge Yánez, and friends selling them in Catacamas, Olancho exist before the study of the caves began.
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